Sayonara, Twitter!

I have always thought that Twitter is ridiculous. It serves a purpose for a lot of mobile businesses and artists, but it also frightens me how addictive it can be to otherwise normal people. And how nothing, really, is sacred when people experience something and immediately think about sharing that bit of information with their world. This recent NY Times article about Protocols is also worth a read. And the video below made me happy because it means I am not alone in my fascination with Twitter’s dark side.

Since I create and wear costumes while often acting as a dead person in public, I tend to confuse certain people. Public desire to label and file me away as any one thing is convenient for many but confusing. It is true that I hate being called a “burlesque dancer”, one commonly misused label that I constantly strive to separate myself from. If anything, call me a performance artist because that is what I am. This pigeonholing also really annoys Madonna who once said “I think of myself as a performance artist. I hate being called a pop star. I hate that.” Mind you this is not because of shame, insecurity or fear but for the sake of my sanity. I am also a producer and a writer. So one might assume that I would be thrilled by the advent of a platform like Twitter in which I can share, through writing 140 characters, all of the self-indulgent, intimate morsels of my life with a gossip hungry and nosypants world.

I never really understood the point of Twitter and basically shunned the concept. After being interviewed about the MTA Service Specialist project receiving a cease-and-desist from the MTA’s lawyers, TJ Rosenthal of East Village Radio’s TJ AND THE TUX, roped me in and created a personal account for me. Me at Twitter. I was reluctant, but on the heels of a 5am interview on Good Day New York and a sleepless, nervous night about what my virginal Tweet would reveal, I gave in. And that is how it all started. Soon, my ex boyfriend’s mother requested to follow me. And then my own mother. And then Britney Spears. It was then I knew that I was getting in too deep.

When I decided to transform myself into Courtney Love for the October edition of the Sunday Show, I thought it might be best to step into her shoes. I started using my Twitter. And sadly, just when I was getting into the random blurts of insanity, Courtney went and deleted her account. So, as a method actor, I followed suit and set forth to delete my account, too. I barely used it and don’t really understand the CULTural phenomenon associated with it, so this was not a big loss to me.

In the process of my disengagement, I did find out about some features the site provides which I never used. None of which, I believed, could win me back.

When I visited the site intending to permanently depart, the hot topics featured scared me. Much like when leaving a less-than-stellar relationship (why would his mother want to follow me after all of this time, anyway?) or putting back that second helping of cupcakes, I knew that I was making the right decision. I mean, the KKK? What is wrong with you people?

So I eventually approach the final stages of breaking up with Twitter. I am faced with a tearful cartoon bird asking if I am sure I want to leave. Yes, little bird. I am sure. Do people really want to know what I ate for dinner? Will I really stop what I am doing to share what I ate for dinner with thousands of people I don’t even know? And why do they care? Are they just waiting for me to divulge some secret information on there, like who I went to the museum with on Sunday or what panties I decided to put on this morning?

I took a screen shot of my last Twitter feed (including musings from Moby and Samantha Ronson) and, with a few clicks, became one step closer to Courtney. (This feels better than one might initially imagine.) The Sunday Show on October 25th was an incredible success. And today, I am still alive, well and free from “the tweets”. Of course, I can’t completely free myself from the Twittersphere as I have a hit show on my hands and an audience that loves to know what is happening behind the scenes. This being said, you can follow THE SUNDAY SHOW on Twitter @sundayshownyc. However to follow me, you can kick it old school and…send a text.